Angry Kisses: An Elani Fan Fiction
by Enchantedfan4life
Summary: After Sheila tells off Lani for rejecting her friend Eli, Lani is mad as hell. When Eli goes to apologize to Lani the next day this is what happens. Rated M for mature audiences only.
1. Chapter 1

Lani is at her desk angrily typing a report on her computer. She'd come to work early to avoid seeing Eli and his sidekick Sheila who had hung around the station all day yesterday under the pretense that she was looking for a job. "This is a police station, not a freaking employment agency for ex cons," Lani said out loud to the walls of her office. She double checked her notes to make sure all of her facts were straight before she hit save. The report was solid. Hope would definitely be pleased.

Lani stood and stretched. Her work was the only thing that brought her any satisfaction these days. Eli had been a major source of support, but she was terrified of depending on him or anyone for that matter. And it turned out she was right. Not too long after she told Eli she wanted to keep their relationship professional, he took up with Sheila who had blown back into town. Now Eli and his little buddy Sheila were having a good old time laughing and gabbing about her behind her back. Lani's face burned as she thought of the things Sheila had said to her. She called her a skank. And then to add insult to injury, she saw Sheila and Eli leaving the station together arm-in-arm. Thinking about that encounter kept Lani up half the night tossing and turning.

She took a deep breath and willed herself to stop thinking about them. Since she'd been up most of the night what she needed was coffee. She went to the desk opened a drawer and took out her wallet. Just then the door opened and in walked Eli with two cups of coffee and she knew one of them was intended for her. This was not the first time he seemed to read her mind. Still she could not bear to even look at him.

"What do you want? I'm busy," Lani said avoiding eye contact as she took two bills out of her wallet.

"Good Morning to you, too," Eli said closing the door behind him. "I brought you some coffee and I wanted to talk to you for a sec."

"Well, I don't have a sec," Lani said putting on her jacket. "I have a report due and I have to run a quick errand before that." She tried to walk around him, but Eli stepped in her path.

"The only errand you're running is for coffee and I already saved you the trouble. Here." He took one of the containers and held it out to her.

Lani crossed her arms and turned her face away from him. "Why don't you take your coffee and give it to your little homie Sheila or better yet you can shove it."

Eli sighed, "Lani, I know you're upset about yesterday. I hoped that you would have had a chance to cool down."

"Obviously, you thought wrong."

"Sheila was way out of line and I told her so."

"And what about you blabbing about my personal business to someone without an ounce of decorum."

"Sheila is not the most discreet person in the world, but she is a good and loyal friend. She always has my back so yeah I felt comfortable telling her what happened."

These words stung Lani. If Sheila was this great and loyal friend, what did Eli think of her at this point?

"How wonderful it must be for you to have someone to vent to about how skanky I am."

"For the record, I never said you were skanky." Eli's facial expression didn't change, but she could hear a hint of laughter in his words.

"You think this is funny don't you?"

"Yeah actually it is kind of funny," Eli's face broke into a grin. "Look Lani it's not a big deal. Sheila is a really cool person. She didn't meant to hurt your feelings. She felt like she was defending me."

When was the last time Eli smiled at her Lani wondered and felt her anger dissipate just a little. Angry or not she was still wildly attracted to this man. His smile, his kind gestures. If that weren't enough he was sexy as hell.

"You could have talked to your mother, Eli. But then again, her reaction would probably be the same. Only she'd find a more cultured word for skank. One more fitting of her Ivy League education."

"I don't think there's a more cultured word for skank. A skank is a skank." Eli said matter of factly.

"I can't believe it. You are really enjoying this."

"Lani, it's not a big deal. Sheila is harmless. And she was really sorry that she said so much."

"She didn't look sorry when the two of you went traipsing off into the sunset together after work last night."

"That's something else I wanted to tell you. I wanted to let you know that Sheila is going to be staying with me for a couple of days."

Lani just stared at Eli for a long moment too stunned to speak.

"Yeah," Eli continued. "She has no money, no job and no place to stay, so I offered to let her crash at my place."

"You came in here claiming that you were concerned because Sheila said some hateful things to me yesterday. In the next breath, you say that woman is staying with you."

"That's why I wanted to tell you before you heard it from somebody else and jumped to the wrong conclusion. Sheila has been a good friend. It's been nice having her around to talk to."

"Yeah about what a skank I am. Now if you would kindly get out of my way."

"You're really going to stay angry about this?"

"Get out of my way Eli. I told you that I have something to do."

Eli turned as if he were going to accommodate her request, then paused before looking at her again. His hardened expression was unlike any she'd ever seen on his face before. Other than when he first came to town and thought she was trying to interfere in his life, Eli had been nothing but kind to her. They'd argued on several occasions, still that warmth was always there. She knew Eli had a dark side, he'd spent years with a bad crowd in Baltimore, but she'd never seen a hint of it until now. She wasn't afraid, but concerned. Maybe she had pushed him too far and all of the benevolence he felt toward her was now gone. Maybe she should have just accepted his apology. She started to speak but he cut her off.

"You know Lani yesterday when Sheila was going off on you, I felt that she had misinterpreted everything I told her. But I see now she got it right. She was out of line I admit, but what she said is true. It's okay for you to treat me any way you want to and I'm supposed to forgive you, be a gentleman and take the high road, which I always do. On the other hand if something relatively minor happens to you then it's a major catastrophe and there is no forgiveness. You're not just angry with Sheila. You're mad at me as well when I didn't do a damn thing wrong, but talk to a friend. But you, you don't care if I'm hurting. I used to think we were in this together. I see that's not the case now, if it ever was. From this moment on If you don't agree or approve of something I do to get past the loss that I suffered when the son you tried to keep from me died then that's too damn bad. I don't care anymore."

"Eli that's not fair. I do want you to heal from the loss. That's why I thought it would be better if we kept our relationship professional."

"Yeah and how is that working out? The entire thing happened yesterday because you were eavesdropping in on a private conversation. You came over with an obvious chip on your shoulder when no one was talking to you."

"I wasn't eavesdropping. Sheila was bad mouthing my dad in the middle of the station."

"Abe is the mayor. You hear people criticizing his policies every day in the station and I've never seen you bat an eye or say a word until Sheila said something."

"She wasn't talking about the way he runs the city, she was insulting him as a person."

"You have a justification for every single wrong thing that you do. But God forbid if anyone else makes a mistake. I used to think you were the sweetest person I'd ever met. Sweet and funny and just amazing. Now I see you turning into a bitter, angry, unforgiving hypocrite. And you know what the truly sad part is, you are using our son as an excuse."

With that remark Lani completely lost it. She attempted to slap his face, but Eli caught her hand in mid air. When she tried to pull away, Eli grabbed both of her wrists in a vice like grip and drug her body flush up against his. "I know you're upset Lani. But do not ever try to hit me again," he enunciated each word slowly and carefully through gritted teeth, his face within an inch of hers. They were so close that their breath co-mingled and she could smell a woodsy, manly scent lifting from his skin. Heat radiated from his hard, lean body onto hers causing a ball of tension to form in the pit of her belly and then move lower. This was a completely different Eli than the version she was used to. His dark eyes glittered with what looked like to her naked animosity. His tantalizingly full lips were pressed together forming an unyielding line. Muscles twitched along his clenched jaw. The air crackled around them and for one long moment time seemed to stop. Something was happening. The atmosphere itself was charged with a potent energy she could not name and her body responded. Lani felt a relentless throbbing develop between her legs matching the rapid cadence of her heart, which she feared was about to explode. Then all of a sudden she could feel a shift. Eli shook his head as if waking from a trance. He released her wrists and started to take a step back. On impulse she reached out to him, grabbing at his blue sweater with a desperation that suddenly possessed her. Lani wound her arms around his neck and pulled his face toward hers. Her eyes were shut tight and she searched for his lips covering him with insatiable kisses. For a second, Eli remained completely still as if dumbstruck. Then she felt his mouth slant over hers masterfully taking over all control. His tongue hungry, devouring as he explored and tasted her. He took her upper lip and then her lower lip between his teeth nipping and suckling them alternately before plundering her mouth again with his tongue. Lani heard herself moaning into Eli's blazing hot kiss.

At that point even though she was completely intoxicated, under the influence of a plethora of unbridled emotions, Lani had a sense of them turning around and Eli walking her backward until she was up against the office wall. She used the added leverage to wrap one leg around his waist, bringing her in closer contact with his manhood which she could feel lengthening and thickening as she ground into him. Her every gyration sent a shockwave of pleasure throughout her entire body. But it was not a enough, nowhere near enough. She reached down between them for his zipper. Eli reacted quickly taking hold of both her hands and pinning them over her head against the wall. Continuing to hold her like this, Eli left a trail of ardent kisses along the side of her face, down her throat then back to her lips again where he teased, suckled, nibbled and tortured until Lani wanted to scream out in frustration. When she thought she could take it no more, Eli released her hands, grabbed her under the buttocks and lifted her carrying her to the desk never breaking their kiss until he laid her down on the surface. The phone rings. Eli backs away abruptly and Lani is aware that the shrill sound has also freed her from her passion induced fugue state. They stared at each other panting heavily until the phone stopped ringing.

"I just threw you on a desk. At work. When anybody could have walked in," Eli said incredulously." Lani, I am sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Don't apologize," Lani said. She stood and started to straighten her clothes. "Before you threw me on the desk, I tried to unzip your pants." She paused. "Oh my God, what just happened? It's like I couldn't stop myself. Like that night we spent together back in December but a hundred times more intense."

"I don't know what happened, but I think you're right," Eli said. "We do need to keep our distance. If we handle disagreements with sex, what kind of relationship would we have had?"

"A hot one," Lani replied. "I had no idea all of that was bubbling just beneath the surface." She found herself smiling at the memory of what had just transpired. "The damndest thing is I feel better. It's like all of the anger and everything else that has been weighing me down is gone. Maybe I should be thanking you Eli."

"Please don't thank me for acting the fool at work no less." Eli said. "There's something else that I wanted to talk to you about before all of that just happened."

"What is it," Lani could not stop smiling. She really did miss Eli. It must have been the break that really put things into perspective.

Eli took a deep breath before continuing. "I decided to go back home to Baltimore. Staying here just doesn't feel right anymore."

The smile dropped from Lani's face. "You're thinking about leaving Salem?"

"I'm not thinking about it. It's done. I start a new assignment in three weeks. In the meantime It think it's best if you stay out of my way and I'll stay out of yours." With that Eli headed for the door.

"Eli, wait," Lani called after him. Eli didn't respond. He exited her office and closed the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

That night Eli is at home with the TV on, but he's not watching it at all. He's thinking about Lani and the way she felt in his arms. He could barely concentrate for the rest of the day after their heated morning encounter. She was so...so responsive. The way she writhed against him and moaned in his ear. She was not simply responding to him passionately, she actually kissed him first. He kept concluding over and over again that she just probably felt guilty about almost hitting him. But then he remembered how she seemed when he told her that he was leaving Salem. Lani was hurt. He could see it in her eyes.

At 9 pm, there was a knock on his front door and he went to open it knowing it was Sheila. "Hi roomie," Sheila said cheerfully when he let her into the apartment. "As promised, I am out by 7 am and home at 9 after a full day of looking for a job."

"You do not have to stay out so late. Come home whenever you want to," Eli said. "I'm out all day at the station. If you have a lot of time in between interviews you can come back here."

"That would involve you making a key for me and I promised I would not be in your way. I'm keeping my word. The last thing I want to be is a pain in the butt." Sheila said.

Eli yawned and stretched."Well think about it. I can get one made tomorrow and it won't be a problem at all. Right now I'm about to go to bed. Gotta get up early tomorrow." He reached for the remote to turn off the TV when his phone chimed. He picked it up from the table and saw that Lani had texted him: "Need to see you ASAP."

"I can't believe this crap," he said and typed back a message: " I'm busy."

"What's wrong bad news?" Sheila laid her bag on a chair, took off her coat and hung it in a closet.

"You could say that." Eli stared at his phone waiting for Lani to respond. She wrote back in a matter of seconds. "Very important. Please come over now."

"Let me guess. It's Lani." Sheila said and then added "The one who broke your heart, but you are still madly in love with."

"I won't even comment on that last part. But yeah it's Lani. She wants me to go over to her place. Says it's urgent. I am dead tired and do not have time for this." Eli grabbed his keys and retrieved his jacket which he'd slung over a chair when he got home.

Sheila smiled and shook her head. "She got your nose so wide open a mack truck could drive through. If you feel inconvenienced why don't you just call her?"

"Because I'm going to tell her in person if she wants a shoulder to cry on, she needs to find somebody else."

"Sounds like a great idea, Eli. Everybody knows the way to send a clear message that you are not going to be at somebody's beck and call is to jump up and run over there the second they text you."

"Some things need to be done face to face."

"Uh huh," Sheila laughed "You got that right."

"It's over between Lani and me. It's been over."

"Looks like I have the place to myself tonight. See you in the morning." Sheila plopped down on the couch and picked up the remote and waved goodbye.

Eli was highly annoyed when he first got into his car. By the time he arrived at Lani's, he was furious. Sheila was right. Lani wanted to take advantage of how he felt about her. This was not the first time he went to Lani's in the middle of the night. In the weeks following their son's death she'd called him several times saying that she was having nightmares. She always told him not to come, but he would anyway. Now she was texting and specifically requesting that he come to her apartment right away. What the hell? Two weeks ago, she told him that she couldn't return his feelings and that she wanted to keep their relationship professional. Then she gets mad at him for something that Sheila said. Right after that they almost have sex on a desk at work no less. What the hell? These thoughts looped in his head over and over while he drove.

When Lani answered the door, and said "Hi," Eli stalked by her without returning her greeting.

"Thank you for coming over Eli," Lani said. "I just poured a glass of wine, do you want one?" She said all of this while leading him into the kitchen. That's when he noticed she was wearing a very, very short robe. So short either she wore nothing underneath or very little. Tho he tried not to he couldn't help but to stare at the graceful sway of her hips and those long, long legs as she walked in front of him.

"No, I don't want any wine," Eli said brusquely. "On the drive over here I said to myself if this isn't a 911 emergency with ambulances and firetrucks parked out front and a SWAT team landing on the roof, then I'm not even going to stop by at all. I was just going to turn around and go home. What do you want Lani? You're obviously not under any distress."

Lani didn't answer. She stood behind the counter calmly swirling wine in a glass before taking a sip.

Discomforted by her silence Eli continued. "If this is about what Sheila said. We are all adults. It's not that big of a deal, and you need to just get over yourself. And if this is about what happened between us today. I apologized for my part in it and I think it's best if we forget the whole thing."

Lani came from behind the counter, sat down in a chair and crossed her legs. Eli fought to keep his eyes focused on hers, willing himself not to look at her legs. He was even more convinced now that she was naked under the tiny robe. She was staring at him, but he could not tell if his words had any effect at all.

Lani sighed as she watched Eli's lips moving, not listening to one word he was saying. Of course she picked up the obvious. He was perturbed by her actions, her attitude, her lack of respect for him and his time, etc, etc but she didn't concentrate on the details of his diatribe. At that moment, she was too busy trying to figure out how to channel all of Eli's passion in a new direction. One that involved relieving the throbbing ache that had developed deep in her loins from that morning. She desperately needed a release. Two cold showers had done nothing. Eli could give her the satisfaction she craved.

"Further you should not be wearing that." Eli said before adding something about their professional relationship. And it was like two double dutch ropes in perfect alignment. He'd finally provided the opening she'd been waiting for.

She stood and moved closer to him. "So you have a problem with everything about me. Even the way I dress?"

"I didn't say I had a problem with everything about you. And for the record, I normally I like the way you dress, but tonight it's just…" Eli wiped a hand over his mouth as his eyes moved down her body and then back up again lingering on her thighs for a moment. "It's inappropriate."

"I'd say judging from the way you're looking at me right now. It's very appropriate," Lani quipped.

"Anybody would look at a beautiful woman wearing next to nothing."

"But we're not talking about anybody. We're talking about you and me." Lani steadied her voice. Her heart pounded in her chest. If she said the wrong thing, Eli could easily leave and be out of her life for good. And the ache, the feeling that something crucial was missing would be with her forever. But Eli could fix it. It had to be him. She had to have him. He was looking at her now with open curiosity, waiting for her to continue. He ran his tongue over his lips just then and Lani took in a deep breath and spoke. "I know things are complicated between us right now. But in the final analysis…" She lowered her eyes unable to look at him. "I think you want me and I want you to." Then she gazed back up at him with a boldness that she did not feel. "Or am I wrong?"

Lani waited what seemed like an eternity for Eli's answer. There had been so many months of grief, pain, hurt and regret to the point she began to think misery would be her constant companion from now on. Today in her office there was a breakthrough! She could see the first glimmer of light at the end of a long dreary tunnel. Healing was available and she wanted to lay claim to it. If she could be with Eli, Lani believed she'd feel whole again. But only if he was willing to take this journey with her. Only if he could forgive her. She'd lied to him, rejected him, mistreated him and maybe it was too much to ask for a new beginning. Still she had to try. "Eli, am I wrong?" She repeated unable to keep her voice from trembling with emotion.

There was another pause then Lani's next breath rushed from her lungs as Eli roughly pulled her to his chest. One of his hands pressed into her lower back while the other tangled in her hair. He stared into her eyes for a long second until she reached up and pulled his face to hers. She could feel Eli hesitate again before he sealed his mouth over hers. She moaned beneath his onslaught of deep penetrating kisses. Eli broke the kiss to pull his sweater over his head while she undid his belt and yanked his pants down. Lani shrugged out of her robe and jumped on Eli wrapping her arms and legs around him, peppering his face with kisses.

"So you weren't naked," he said looking down at her low cut midriff baring camisole and matching panties. "I just knew you were butt naked under that robe."

"No, but I can be next time if that's what you want?" Lani said between kisses.

"Lani, let's agree that this is it. Just this one last time?" Eli lowered his head to nuzzle her throat and squeezed her thighs as he effortlessly held her up against him.

"You mean like goodbye?" Lani said the words, but refused to let them fully register in her brain.

"Yes," Eli said moving them toward the counter where he sat her on top next to the bottle of wine. "A long goodbye." He slid his hands under the camisole and massaged her breasts, gently pinching the nipples until they hardened. Lani quickly removed the flimsy garment giving Eli full access. Eli licked the tip of her left breast in circles before closing his lips around it, sucking her nipple deep into his mouth while he rubbed his thumb back and forth over the other. The heat of Eli's mouth, his roving tongue and teasing fingers threatened to be her undoing. Lani's back arched and she cried out when without warning Eli switched from one breast to the other, nipping at her lightly with his teeth before he began to descend slowly down her body kissing every inch along the way. He divested her of her panties so swiftly Lani didn't realize they were gone until she felt Eli's breath on the tender flesh between her legs. Then suddenly she was on her feet and Eli was kneeling in front of her. He looked up pinning her with a heated gaze before draping one of her legs over his shoulder. He ran his lips along her inner thigh tantalizingly slow never taking his eyes from hers until he reached her very essence now dripping with desire. Leaning in he traced her entrance with his tongue before dipping inside. Lani's hips thrust forward and she feared she would topple over, but Eli held her firmly in place, grasping her buttocks, gently at first, then with more intensity as his mouth burrowed deeper, exploring every crevice of her drenched womanhood. Lani knew she was ready to go over the edge at any second. As if sensing she were close to orgasm, Eli covered her plump lips with his mouth and worked them mercilessly until she came thrashing, humping his face and screaming his name. Still Eli did not stop until she was almost ready to peak again. He pulled Lani to the floor and positioned her so she straddled him.

Still trembling from her first release and hungry for a second, Lani lifted and then sank down slowly onto Eli's hardness until he was fully inside of her. It took awhile to adjust to his considerable size. This, Lani remembered from their last encounter. She remained completely still resting her forehead on Eli's shoulder until he began to whisper wickedly erotic things in her ear. Tentatively she swiveled her hips and gasped at the pleasure of being so completely filled. Her gyrations picked up speed until she was driving her hips back and forth fervently. She just could not get enough of those delicious sensations. Her inner walls began to pulse and quake rhythmically as she used her muscles to grip his length on the down stroke. She leaned back wanting to feel him from a different angle. Then moved in close, grasping his shoulders tightly while looking down, taking in everything that was going on between her legs. Her movements made wet squishing noises that Eli commented on in language so graphic Lani might have blushed if she weren't so completely turned on by what he said. She ground down on him inching closer to the release she desperately needed. She felt a scream building and tried to fight the urge, but it overpowered her, tearing from her throat. Then another and another until she sank her teeth into Eli's shoulder to make them stop.

When she thought the last scrap of pleasure was wrung from her body, Eli deftly lifted her from him, laid her on the floor and plowed into her relentlessly until he was again buried deep inside. Lani gasped, feeling stretched beyond her limits, and was reminded of their first time together when Eli had shocked and to some extent alarmed her. She was not ready to receive the full force of this man back then, but tonight was a different story. The initial discomfort subsided quickly as Eli withdrew and then thrust into her again, over and over and over. Lani found herself moving her hips and arching her back to take him in deeper, something she would have been terrified to do that first time, but now felt so right in fact necessary as yet another climax began to build. Was this the second? The third? The fourth? Eli covered her mouth with his, kissing her, swallowing her moans as she dug her nails into his back. The sensations intensified with every hard thrust until the firelike pleasure overtook her again and a series of wrenching spasms roared through her climaxing body. Her inner walls grasped him tightly until Eli came too, one final thrust indicating his release.

Then he said while still breathing heavily from so much exertion, "are you okay?"

Sweat was dripping down Eli's face and Lani was covered all over with a sheen of perspiration. Without a doubt, this was the best sex she ever had in her life. Ever. "I should be asking if you're okay. I'm the one who bit the hell out of you. I just hope I didn't leave a mark." She tried to examine his shoulder, but he stopped her with a kiss.

"Don't worry about it. Don't worry about anything. You are absolutely perfect." Eli looked down at her with such tenderness, Lani felt her heart melt completely.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day, Eli sat at his desk looking at his phone wondering if he should call Lani. She was late. Despite the night they had, which ended with them falling asleep on her couch at 3 am, he still made it to work on time. She hadn't overslept, she was awake when he left. He smiled at the memory of Lani holding on to him, not saying a word, but asking with her eyes for him to stay. Not that he wanted to leave, but he had a job to do and so did checked his watch again before heading to Lani's office. Rafe intercepted him in the hall.

"Since Price is out today, I'm gonna need you to follow up on the Newton case," Rafe said handing Eli a file.

"Lani's out. Is she okay?" Eli asked thinking about the night they'd shared. He prayed that their quite vigorous love making did not do any harm. Lani seemed quite healthy that morning.

"She's fine man," Rafe said giving Eli a fatherly clap on the shoulder. "She said she needed a personal day and requested that you go out to the Newtons for further questioning. Lani already has statements from Dorothy and Evelyn. I need you to talk to them again. And question Cora who was out of town that day."

"The Newtons. Aren't they the family with 100 cats?" Eli opened the file.

"Yeah, that's them. Three sisters in their early 70s and I think it's 28 cats actually. Lani said they all seemed well cared for and they're registered, so she didn't report them for suspected animal abuse. All you have to focus on is their missing jewelry."

Eli flipped through the pages of the file. "Lani knows I can't stand cats. Why would she request that I do the questioning?"

"Beats me," Rafe shrugged and walked away.

Eli went back to his office to review the file. Cats notwithstanding it was an interesting case. There was a strong possibility of insurance fraud. The motive being all of those cats, which cost hundreds of dollars a month in food, veterinary fees and other expenditures. All three of the sisters lived on a small trust left to them by their mother. None had ever married or had children. Lani already completed most of the leg work and unearthed several viable leads. Very interesting-but all of those cats. He'd probably have to spend the better part of an hour in a place with 28 cats. The thought made Eli's skin crawl. When he closed the folder and started to head out to the Newtons' place, his phone chimed. Lani texted him: "Thanks for the solid," she wrote, followed by three smiley faces with cat ears and whiskers. Eli couldn't help but chuckle. Lani was a damn good cop, but he wondered if she missed her calling as a professional button pusher because she sure knew how to push his.


	4. Chapter 4

After texting Eli, Lani put her phone in her bag and tried to picture how Eli's face must have looked when Rafe asked him to go to the "Cat Lady" house as the Newton's neighbors called it. Lani couldn't help but to laugh. Eli hated cats, but there was no one that she trusted more and she really wanted his opinion on the case. Plus, she had personal things to take care. The first order of business was to find Sheila. Lani knew that Sheila went to the Brady Pub for coffee, and as luck would have it, when Lani entered the pub, there she was sitting at a table looking at the Help Wanted ads in the paper.

Lani went to her table and without asking took a seat across from her. Sheila glanced over the paper. "Oh boy," was all she said before lifting the paper again.

"Nobody gets jobs from the want ads anymore," Lani said. "Besides I know you're interested in the job in my dad's office."

Sheila put down the paper. "Are you seriously here to rub that in my face? Yeah, I'm desperate for a job, but I wouldn't work for your chump dad if it was the last job in Salem. Besides I know he'd never hire me."

"I'm not trying to rub anything in your face," Lani said. "I'm going to call my dad right after I leave here and I can put in a good word for you. In fact give me your resume. I'm not going into the station today, but I'll scan it and email it to him."

"What the hell?" Sheila regarded Lani with a frown. "Why would you help me."

"Because you need a job. Give me your resume and I'll send it to my dad and ask him to consider you for the opening. It's that simple," Lani said.

"Back where I come from, people don't just do things like this for other people. And you and me, we're not exactly friends, so what do you want in return for this job recommendation?"

"So glad you asked," Lani said.

"I probably shouldn't have," Sheila sighed. "This has something to do with Eli doesn't it? I'm warning you. Don't play around with that man's heart. He's like a brother to me. If you hurt him, you'll have to answer to me."

"You have nothing to worry about. Hurting Eli is the last thing I want to do," Lani said as vivid images of their night together flashed through her mind. She cleared her throat in an attempt to dash the images away so she could concentrate on what she was saying. "Eli never talks about growing up in Baltimore. Not in detail anyway. I know there were some painful memories, but I know there were good times too. Tell me about them. And I'll help you get the job."

"I'm only doing this because I'm desperate."

"Talking about Eli?"

Sheila sucked her teeth. "Hell no, that's easy. I mean working for your dad."


	5. Chapter 5

The Newton house was worse than Eli could have imagined. There were cats and cat hair everywhere and one in particular, an orange kitten, kept rubbing up against his leg and meowing at him.

"Oh, he likes you," Dorothy enthused. "And Sebastian doesn't like anybody. He usually runs and hides whenever we have a visitor. Not that we have many visitors."

"No, no, no," Evelyn said as Sebastian tried to climb up Eli's pant leg. "He also liked that female police officer. The pretty one. I think Price was her name."

Dorothy and Evelyn were the cat enthusiasts. They seemed to know the names of every last one of their "Kitties" as they referred to them. However, Eli noticed Cora grab one none too gently by the scruff of its neck and put it on the floor so she could sit in a chair three cats occupied. The other two cats scrammed when they saw her coming. Cora was a former stage actress, she said and showed him a picture of her playing Lady Macbeth in the 1970s. But then their father died and their mother got sick. She did not come out and say it directly, but Cora was bitter about having to sacrifice her career for family.

Eli made a few stops on his way back to the station following up on one or two of his cases. He also made an extra key to his apartment for Sheila and left it with a staff member at the Brady Pub where Sheila went for dinner before going back to the computer center at the library. At the end of his shift, he went home to shower. He did not sit down once while at the Newton's still he had the sensation of being covered in cat hair.

Once he was dressed, Eli headed over to Lani's place. After the cat text that morning, he had not heard from her and after last night they really needed to talk. When he knocked on the door, she called out telling him to come in. The door was not locked. Eli's first thought was to scold her. Being a cop was no justification for inviting trouble by not locking doors.

Everything Eli wanted to say was quickly forgotten when he saw Lani standing in the middle of her living room. She was standing with her hands behind her back wearing a short sleeved form fitting black crop top with the number 83 printed in gold on the front with matching black shorts that were so small they could have passed for panties or perhaps they were panties he couldn't tell for sure. On her legs were long black and white sweat socks that came up to practically mid thigh. Lani's hair was divided into two ponytails with gold ribbons. Her makeup was exaggerated. From behind her back she produced two small gold and black pom poms.

"Guess who I am," Lani said coming over to Eli and shaking one of the pom poms close to his nose.

Eli looked at her. "Hey 83 that was my number when I played football in high school."

"Yup," Lani said smiling. "I know." She continued to walk around him, now tickling his neck with both pom poms. "So who am I."

"I don't know. A freaky cheerleader," Eli said.

"Yes but whose freaky cheerleader?"

"Uhhh...my...freaky cheerleader?"

"You got it." Lani said jumping up and down waving her pom poms. "I made up this cheer just for you. 1-2-3-4 Who do we appreciate, Eli. Eli." Then she jumped up and down waving her pom poms some more. "So what do you think of your cheer?"

"I have to say," Eli began and then started laughing. "That was pretty bad."

Lani laughed too. She ran to him wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Eli tried to grab and kiss her again but Lani eluded him, moving away. "Wait I have a better cheer for you," she said and threw her pom poms high in the air, intentionally letting them fall to the floor behind her. "Opps. I dropped my pom poms," she said then turned and bent at the waist allowing the super short shorts to ride up over her cheeks.

Eli watched with amusement as his freaky cheerleader searched for her pom poms. He'd come over to have a serious discussion with Lani, but maybe she had the right idea. Why not forget all of their troubles for a little while and just have some fun?


	6. Chapter 6

Four days later Eli was sitting shirtless in a chair in Lani's living room. Lani stood in front of him wearing a short black nightie, a pair of black stilettos, and the patrol man's hat she wore while going through the police academy. A paper badge that she'd printed from the internet was pinned to the nightgown.

"Why do I have to be the perp?" Eli complained. "Why can't you be the perp?"

"I'm the cop because I have to write a ticket and my handwriting is better than yours. Anyway I've had enough back talk from you," she said jabbing his bare chest with a small umbrella, her makeshift nightstick. Then she began to pace in front of him tapping her open palm with the umbrella listing his many offenses the main one being that he was looking too fine in a 55 mile an hour zone. And there were laws against how good he looked.

Lani stopped pacing and bent over so that her face was close to his. "Now you are going to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Eli burst out laughing.

"Stop snickering, perp." Lani said even though she had also started to laugh. She stood up straight. "You're ruining the game. You are supposed to look nervous."

"I do look nervous."

"You're smiling."

"Hey, you got me," he said lifting his hands, which were in handcuffs. Lani had put them on him after her partial strip search earlier-which involved a lot of kissing and caressing. "I am nervous."

"Put more effort into it."

"You just said that I was looking too fine in a 55 mile an hour zone and I'm not supposed to laugh."

"No, and it's Lady Officer to you. I see I'm going to have to teach you some manners."

"Okay, do I look nervous now, Lady Officer."

"No, you're still smiling and I don't think I care much for your tone."

"Maybe this perp enjoys being interrogated."

"No, Eli. A perp wouldn't smile or laugh." Lani said leaning over to give him a long kiss before pulling away. "You have to get into the role."

"It's not like Lady Officer is going to win an academy award any time soon, especially not with that dialogue."

"Oh, so you're saying you didn't like it then?"

"No, I'm saying game over." Eli stood up and Lani took off running, kicking off her high heels. She climbed over furniture and knocked things off tables as Eli gave chase saying that he was going to have his revenge against Lady Officer for saying he smiled too much. Lani tried to yell back that he was only making it harder on himself resisting arrest, but she was laughing too hard to get the words out. The only reason Eli did not catch her in five seconds was because he was still cuffed. When he finally cornered her in the kitchen, Lani had been laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. Just as she was about to surrender the doorbell rang. Then there was a loud knocking on the door and her father's voice calling out. "Lani, are you alright?"


	7. Chapter 7

Lani and Eli exchanged looks and dashed to the living room. Lani's place was in such disarray, it seemed as if a hurricane had blown through.

"Where is the key to the handcuffs," Eli whispered.

"I don't know. I thought I put them somewhere on this table," Lani said looking around frantically. Her father knocked again. "I'll be right there...I just have to put something in the oven!" Lani called out and then shrugged her shoulders at Eli. It was the best thing she could come up with considering the situation. "Here," she whispered to Eli. "Sit here and I'll cover your hands with a blanket. No that would look stupid since you don't have a shirt on. I guess you'll have to hide until my dad leaves and we can find the key." She hustled Eli into her bedroom, jumped into a pair of pants and a sweater, then went back through the living room to the front door letting Abraham in.

"What on earth happened here?" Abraham said as soon as he stepped inside.

"I was looking for something and I just turned the place upside down, I guess," she said putting a cushion back on the sofa."

"Oh is that so?" Abe said bending down to pick up the patrol man's hat that had flown off of Lani's head when Eli was chasing her. Lani followed his line of vision to one of the stilettos that was lying on the floor. "And where is Eli?" Abe put the hat on a table. "I thought I heard his voice when I first walked up."

"He's uh in the bathroom."

"You sure everything is alright?" Abe said eyeing his daughter keenly.

"Yes, everything is fine. I am so sorry that you had to see my place looking like this, but I knew if I left you in the hall while I cleaned up that you would worry."

"Worry about what? If you say you're okay, then I believe you. So what were you looking for?"

"My phone. I put it down somewhere…"

"You mean that phone," Abe said and pointed to a stand where her phone was charging, probably the only thing that did not get knocked over.

Lani placed her hand on her forehead and laughed. "Isn't that how it always goes? The thing you are looking for is right where it's supposed to be."

"Yeah, it goes like that sometimes, I suppose." Abe said and looked at his watch. "I am on my way to meet Valerie, but I thought I'd stop by here first to talk to you about hiring Sheila. Val thinks I should give her a chance and from your email I gather that you feel the same way."

"I think you should definitely hire Sheila," Lani said as she refolded a blanket. "I know the two of you got off on the wrong foot…"

"You mean when she called me a creep and a...what was it...a scrub?"

"Yeah, but that is all in the past. Isn't the noble thing to forgive and move on. Start out fresh and create new beginnings?"

"Are you talking about me hiring Sheila, or perhaps your renewed relationship with Eli?"

Lani could feel herself blushing. "We kind of wanted to keep it quiet. You know he's leaving so it's nothing serious."

"Not serious? No one has seen the two of you outside of work in quite a few days," Abe glanced at his watch again. "Speaking of which, could you hurry Eli along, I'd like to talk to him about," he cleared his throat, "his friend Sheila before I make my decision."

"Eli, he uh..I think he's coming down with that horrible stomach flu that's been going around. He's been in the bathroom practically all night."

Abe grimaced and took his phone out of his breast pocket. "I'll let Val know. Maybe she can come over and do something for him."

"No," Lani exclaimed before lowering her voice back to normal. "That's not necessary. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Valerie won't be too happy with me if she finds out that I knew Eli was sick and didn't tell her."

"I don't want Val to worry. If Eli doesn't feel better by tomorrow morning, I'll bring him to the hospital myself, I promise. By the way Eli and I have tickets to Chloe's concert tonight. Since Eli's sick, why don't you and Val go instead."

"I think Val would enjoy that. I would have gotten tickets myself but with both of our schedules sometimes it's hard to plan. "

"See how things work out."

"Yes, but poor Eli," Abe grimaced again. "Tell him I hope he feels better. Why don't the both of you take off tomorrow and make sure it's nothing serious or contagious. I'll let Hope and Rafe know."

"Sounds good and as for Sheila, Eli would no doubt vouch for her. You should go ahead and hire her."

As soon as Abe leaves, Eli emerges from the bedroom. Lani could tell by the look on his face he was not happy and not just about the handcuffs. "I traded in a favor for those tickets Lani," he said.

"I know Eli, but I didn't know what else to do, my dad was going to call Val. She would have come over. The good news is I found the key while I was cleaning up." Lani produced the key from her pocket and walked over to Eli to unlock the cuffs. When the cuffs were undone she looked up at Eli as he rubbed his wrists. The entire mood had changed and she was at fault for losing the key and she probably shouldn't have locked Eli up in the first place.

"Lani, we need to talk," Eli said sternly still rotating his wrists. Lani felt her lower lip tremble. They had been having so much fun for the last several days and she loved every second they spent together. She knew what Eli wanted to talk about. He wanted to remind her that he would be leaving soon. He wanted to prepare her before he said a final goodbye.

"I'm sorry about the handcuffs and the tickets. You don't have to stay tonight if you don't want to. I'm going to order some take out and then I'm going to bed. Okay that's enough talking for me. Good Night." Lani started to walk by him, but he grabbed her upper arm and for a second her world stopped. Lani's eyes traveled from his hand circled around her arm up to his eyes, which were unreadable. That sparkle from earlier when they joked about Lady Officer was not there anymore.

"You think you're getting off that easy?" Eli said gruffly.

Lani didn't respond. All she could do was stare back at him praying that the longing she felt for him was not visible on her face.

"Since you ruined our night out, we are going to the grocery store to buy food, which you are going to cook." He said pointing at her.

Lani's jaw dropped then despite her rotten mood, she chuckled. "You want me to cook? I don't think so," she said shaking her head.

"Be ready to go in five minutes," he said and swatted her backside.

"Ow!" Lani yelped. The spank didn't hurt so much as it surprised her.

"Why are you still standing there? Get moving. I want my dinner on the table piping hot by 7:30," Eli demanded then walked away.

Two hours later Lani was scurrying around in the kitchen with a cookbook open on the center island and her laptop next to it. She had the flame too high under the rice so it was burned yet undercooked. Since Eli would not allow her to buy pre-seasoned chicken, she had to make a marinade from scratch, which turned out bitter and horrible. While cooking the rice and chicken, she was also supposed to be making a salad with a homemade vinaigrette dressing and a fruit cup for Eli's desert. He also wanted a slice of french bread toasted exactly to his specifications served with the salad. Lani had no idea how to do all of these things at once.

"Eli, I do not know how to cook. You're not going to want to eat what I make. I'll ruin your dinner. Please let's just order something," she kept repeating over and over while they went up and down the aisles of the supermarket.

The only thing he said in response was to wink at her and say "your cooking can't be any worse than your cheer leading." Otherwise he ignored her protests and instead busied himself with picking out the items he wanted her to cook. Lani had to admit that she was impressed with the care he took in carefully selecting fruit and vegetables. He even read the ingredients on packages. If she wasn't so anxious about having to cook, she would have enjoyed the shopping trip with Eli immensely.

When the moment of truth came at 7:30, Lani sat a plate down in front of Eli. On it was a slice of french bread, which he inhaled in five seconds flat. "So where is the main course," Eli said taking a drink of water.

"Uh..that was it," Lani said sheepishly. "I didn't have time to make the salad and nothing else is fit for human consumption. I knew this was going to be a disaster. I tried to warn you."

Eli insisted that she serve him what she cooked, to her surprise, he ate it, then had seconds. And he thanked her. "I know cooking isn't exactly within your comfort zone right now," he said. "I really appreciate this."

"I'm just sorry it was so bad." Lani said. She had only been able to eat the bread and she had a bowl of cereal to go with it.

"It wasn't bad and in time you will get better. We should not be dependent on take out. Has too much fat and salt."

Lani honed in on his use of the word "we" and how he might have meant it. They washed dishes together then took some of the fruit into the living room to eat while they watched TV. Lani leaned into the comfort of Eli's shoulder and her heart felt so full, she blurted out. "Eli, why don't you move in here with me?"

Eli had just put a grape in his mouth and almost choked on it when Lani issued her quite unexpected invitation. Before he could respond, Lani jumped up and started to talk a mile a minute.

"I don't know why I just said what I did," Lani's hands were clasped in front of her as she spoke, "Maybe it's this cozy domestic scene that we're playing out. Maybe it's the fact that over the last few days I've had more fun than I've ever had in my life. I don't know maybe it's because your too fine for a 55 mile an hour zone. Maybe it's for every shallow reason you can think of. I don't know why I said it so can we just forget it? Please just forget what I said."

Eli forced himself not to smile again at the "too fine" comment, but did wonder for a second if this is how Lani truly saw him. Right now there were more pressing concerns than a stroke to his ego. Lani had asked him to move in then rescinded the offer. She looked embarrassed like she wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. He stood and said calmly, "May I say something."

"No," Lani turned her back to him and wiped at her eyes. "I would appreciate it if you would forget what I said."

Eli reached out, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. He said into her ear, "You and I are going to sit down and have a long talk about a lot of things."

"Didn't anybody ever tell you that talking is overrated?" Lani turned back to him with a saucy expression on her face, all traces of the self-consciousness from a moment ago was gone. "Especially when I can think of so many other interesting things you can be doing with those lips." She leaned in placing her mouth on his.

The softness of her lips was an instant and intense trigger activating every single nerve ending throughout his entire body. He and Lani needed to talk, not have sex again, his mind reasoned, but the traitorous lower parts of his anatomy had other priorities as he kissed her soundly and deeply. He knew she was playing a dirty trick to keep from having a serious conversation. But if he said he didn't like it, he'd be lying. Once they made it to her room, he laid Lani on the bed and quickly unbuttoned her jeans and pulled off her sweater eagerly drinking in the sight of her. "You are so, so, so pretty," he said his eyes caressing her from the top of her head, over the flat plane of her stomach down to her pink painted toes and every detail in between.

"So are you," Lani smiled and reached up to touch his face. Never before had a man gazed at her the way Eli did. Never had a man made her feel so wanted, so adored, so treasured. When he traced his lips along her collarbone and ran his hand down to her waist and over her thighs, she closed her eyes and sighed contentedly. Eli was leaving in a few weeks, but she had him for now.

Later that night when Eli had fallen asleep, Lani turned on her bedside lamp and pulled out the journal Val had given her at baby David's funeral. She wrote in it every day since then as Val had instructed. She kept up the practice even after Eli began to stay over. He never even stirred. He slept so heavily, but could wake before dawn without an alarm clock if need be. She opened the notebook and stared at a blank page before her eyes wandered back to Eli. It was a good thing that she had a king sized bed because the man loved to spread out when he slept.

The second night Eli stayed, she wrote in her journal furiously for about twenty solid minutes straight without stopping once. The whole entire experience of them being together was nothing short of a cathartic release of months and months of pent up abject misery. She thought dark storm clouds would hover over her life forever. Then suddenly the pain was gone and for the last few days it was like she was living a dream while wide awake.

She'd have to go through the entire grieving process again once Eli was gone. The book that Val gave her along with the journal said that there were five stages of grief and Lani knew that she was in the first stage now-denial-and Eli hadn't even left yet. What was she going to do without him? She covered her face with her hands as a wave of emotion enveloped her.

"What's wrong?"

Eli's voice startled her. She slammed the journal closed and looked at him.

"Writing in your diary?" He rolled over onto his back and appeared to be talking in his sleep. Lani knew better. He had been aware of her secret nightly writing ritual all along.

Lani pushed his arm. "You're sneaky. Fake sleeping and spying on me."

Eli smiled and opened one eye. "Jealous because you can't sneak? You make a racket every time you open that drawer."

"So sorry," Lani was immediately contrite. "Have I been waking you?"

"Don't worry about it." Eli sat up. "I always go right back to sleep."

"But not tonight?"

"You seemed like something was bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Lani took a deep breath and tried to find words to express how she was feeling. But she could not bring herself to say any of what she was thinking. She shook her head and felt her eyes fill with tears.

"Hey it's okay. I shouldn't have intruded on your writing time."

"It's not that," Lani's voice broke a little when she spoke. "I'm glad you're here." She put the journal on the nightstand, turned off the light and cuddled up to Eli, holding on to him as tight as she could.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day Eli woke up and started to get out of bed until Lani grabbed his arm stopping him. "We don't have to work today. Remember you're supposed to be sick and I'm taking care of you."

"But I'm not sick," Eli said and looked at Lani taking in her tousled hair, gorgeous sleepy brown eyes, all offset by a brilliant welcoming good morning smile. Every single morning, she seemed so happy to see him, as if she feared he was going to disappear in the middle of the night. This is what she was projecting outwardly anyway, but she refused to talk about how she was feeling inside or any serious discussion in regards to their relationship or whatever it was that they were doing. They went to work then right to Lani's place. Last night was the first time they broke the pattern by going to the grocery store when Lani destroyed their plans for the concert.

"Oh come on, we have the day off, let's take advantage. Let's stay in bed all day." She said while nibbling his ear.

"If we don't go to work, we're certainly not going to stay in bed all day. Time to get up." Eli gave Lani a brief kiss on the lips and tried to stand up again but she held onto him tightly wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, one step below a chokehold.

"Nobody gets out of this bed until I say so," she said and he could hear the laughter in her voice. He stood dragging her with him until she slid to the floor still laughing.

"I guess whoever is stronger wins that game," said Eli with a wink and started to walk to the bathroom.

Lani was on her feet in a flash. She ran in front of him placing both hands on his chest. "Stop right there. Or I do need to get out my badge and handcuffs?"

Eli took her hands and kissed her palms. "You know Lani, I'm starting to get this funny feeling about you."

"What kind of funny feeling?" Lani's smile was as bright as the sun now illuminating the room. She was literally glowing.

"I'm getting the feeling that you love me." He tapped the tip of her nose with his finger. Lani's demeanor changed immediately. She stood stock still staring at him while he continued "Lani, I'm not blind, I can see it. I can feel it. Why don't you just admit it?" Eli had been trying to encourage Lani to talk about her feelings for days. Waiting patiently was not working, so he laid down the gauntlet to see how she'd react.

"I...um…" Lani began. She lowered her gaze for a moment then looked back up at him her eyes narrowed. "You know that's the most presumptuous, conceited, egotistical thing that anybody has ever said to me in my life."

Eli regarded her rubbing the stubble on his chin with his knuckles. Two days ago, Lani had requested that he grow his beard back. He hadn't shaved since then and the new growth was starting to itch. "That's not exactly a denial," he said.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you you were fine. It's gone straight to your big fat head."

"Yeah, about that," Eli drawled. "Just how long have you been checking me out. I had a feeling when I first started working at the station, but since you were with JJ, I just dismissed it."

"For your information everybody was checking you out at the station when you first started. Amy Kalbart said and I quote 'It's a good thing I'm 65 and retiring because if I had to work with that one, there would have been trouble.'"

"Sergeant Kalbart said that?" Eli laughed. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, you always seem so clueless and humble until today you decide to act like a complete jerk thinking you know how I feel. I'll be the judge of my own feelings and I'll tell you on the need to know basis, thank you very much."

"I'm still not hearing a denial."

"You're not hearing confirmation either."

"Don't need it." Eli shrugged. "You've been showing me in every way that matters accept one. You don't want to tell me how much you love me."

"You know you're really being insufferable right now."

"How long are you going to hide from me when I'm right here and I can see you."

"We can remedy that real quick. Get out the hell out. Then you don't have to look at me anymore."

"Seriously?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"Okay, I'm out. But here's a protip for you Lani," Eli said smoothly. "Be careful what you wish for."

Twenty minutes later Eli was showered and dressed. When he got downstairs Lani was holding the front door open and slammed it behind him after he left.


	9. Chapter 9

Once Eli was gone, Lani tightened the belt on her, robe, squared her shoulders and resolved to begin the process of getting over him ASAP. It was probably better this way-a clean break-instead of some long messy goodbye at the airport in two weeks. She imagined herself desperately clinging to him while he kissed her, stroked her hair and reassured her that he would call her every day and visit as much as possible. Actually, Lani had to admit the scenario didn't sound half bad. This was 2018 afterall. It's not like he was traveling the Oregon Trail in a covered wagon. They could see each other again even if he did go back to Baltimore.

Lani's heart swelled and she felt hopeful until she remembered their argument about the "L" word and how she'd thrown him out. Just who did he think he was anyway trying to force her to use the "L" word only a few days after they had reconnected. Yes, it was for the best that it was over now rather than later. Lani tried to convince herself as she showered and dressed, but she kept doubting She couldn't help it. He had only been gone for an hour and she missed him already.

* * *

For the first fifteen minutes after he arrived at the station, Eli did nothing but stare at two pieces of paper and think about Lani. The first document was his letter of hire from Baltimore Division of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. And the second was his resignation. He told Hope about the offer as soon as it came in. Then he wrote the letter, but for some reason he held off on handing it in. At the time, the idea of getting away from Salem and distancing himself from Lani seemed like a good idea. After she told him she could not return his feelings, seeing her every day and not being able to hold her and touch her was far too painful. He thought putting distance between them would be the better part of valor. Then the last four days happened.

He played a strong hunch that morning by telling her he knew she loved him. Of course no one can know the depth or inner workings of another person's soul, but she certainly was behaving like she either loved him or was about 10 seconds away from it. Her outburst didn't phase him either. He actually expected it or something along the same lines.

Normally he was far more patient, but he had to know if he stayed in Salem would they have something real. Either she truly opened up to him or he was leaving. He wasn't sticking around to play games tho he admitted that Lani came up with some very, very interesting games. Not the thing to think about at the station. He stood and went to the water fountain in the hall just as Lani came in. She kept her eyes averted, walked past him into her office and shut the door behind her.

Later Rafe knocked on his door and came in. "Lani is spending the day in the field she didn't look too hot. Abe said something about the both of you being sick and taking off. I was surprised to see you and Lani here today."

"We're both fine. Just a bit of a mix up." Eli said.

"I guess Lani told you that the Newton sisters confessed to hiding the jewels and the insurance company agreed to not press charges since they'd been doing business with the family for over fifty years."

"Yeah, she told me. And they're going to sell the house. Lani is worried about what is going to happen to all of the cats."

"Lani's got a soft spot for animals," Rafe nodded. "Oh so uh, tell me if I'm intruding but are the two of you together, quasi together dating or what? Hope told me that you haven't officially resigned yet."

"No I have the letter I just haven't submitted it. As far as me and Lani are concerned, everything is going to be settled by tomorrow." Eli looked at both of the letters that occupied his thoughts all morning. Yes by tomorrow all would be settled one way or the other.


	10. Chapter 10

That night Lani went to the grocery store, purchased some processed but easy to cook food that Eli would never approve of. Still any kind of cooking at home was a level above take out. Besides Eli was not there to dictate what she should eat or how she should feel about him. Lani barely ate any of what she prepared, pushing it around on her plate. After dinner, she showered and changed into warm pajamas and got into a bed with a mystery novel and ice cream. She took her journal out and wrote "Who needs a man when I've got Cookies N' Cream." Then she drew a smiley face. Still she missed Eli like crazy. She wrote that down too. Now that he was gone, maybe she should get a pet, a cat. Yes, she would get a cat. Eli hated cats. When he moved back to Baltimore she would text him pictures of her curled up with her feline friend just to mess with him.

Suddenly a thought occurred to her. What if Eli pushed the "L" word thing because he was messing with her? What if he was joking? He was smiling when he said it. But then she remembered his face when she was throwing him out and how he looked at the station. He certainly did not appear to be in a laughing mood at all. Still maybe this morning he was kidding, she took it seriously and wrecked his joke before he got to the punchline.

Lani decided right then and there that she needed answers. She sent Eli a text, "Get yo ass over here NOW!" In the back of her mind she realized that she was making up an excuse to contact him and it was probably, as Eli would say, the better part of valor just to leave him alone. Afterall, he had not tried to contact her once today. Ten minutes went by and he didn't respond. Then fifteen. She remembered what Eli had said to her when she told him to get out. Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. She looked at the empty side of her king sized bed. She'd created this empty bed, now she had to lie in it alone-and with her cat when she got one.

The ringing doorbell shook her out of her brooding. She jumped out of bed, ran down the stairs, unlocked the door, threw it open and there was Eli. He must have broken ten speed laws to get to her place that fast.

"Lani, do not open the door unless you confirm who is on the other side," Eli chastised sternly as he walked by her and entered her apartment.

"I knew it was you," She closed the door and leaned her back against it, staring at him. Eli was a sight for sore eyes. "How did you get here so fast? Not that I'm complaining, but you're lucky some enterprising lady cop didn't pull you over then I'd have to kick her ass."

"What the hell are you talking about? If this is another game, I am not in the mood."

"Oh, you didn't get my text."

"No, I hadn't heard from you all day." Eli took his phone out, looked at it and chuckled ruefully. "Thanks for the warm invitation." He put his phone back into his pocket, took off his jacket and walked into the living room. Lani followed, a feeling of dread was forming in the pit of her stomach. Eli had come over with a purpose and she was terrified that she was not going to like what he was going to say. This was probably going to be the once and final goodbye.

"Are you hungry? I cooked tonight," she said.

"You did?" Eli looked pleasantly surprised. "Yeah, I could eat something. Thanks."

Lani went to the kitchen to heat a plate of food. When she came back into the living room. Eli was sitting in a chair, not on the couch where they normally snuggled. In typical Eli fashion, he finished eating with a quickness then got right up and went into the kitchen to wash his plate in the sink. It still amazed her that he could eat what she cooked without gagging. Other than simple things like eggs and toast, she herself was not able to stomach food she prepared.

She went with him into the kitchen and put her chin on his shoulder as he washed the dishes. "You know I'm still mad at you about what you said this morning." She kissed his cheek, which was stubbly. He was growing back his beard at her request. The fact that he immediately obliged warmed her heart. She kissed him again moving closer to his lips this time. He had finished washing his plate and was now washing the three or four other dishes that were in the sink.

"So I guess those were angry kisses." Eli dried his hands with a paper towel before turning to her.

"Very angry kisses," Lani felt herself smiling. She just could not help it. Eli was back and they were together again. Five minutes apart was way, way too much. Twelve hours was agony. She just looked at him and he stared back. Lani had no idea how long they stood like that until she reached up, laying a palm on the side of his face. He closed his eyes at her touch then opened them again. And he was different. Lani felt a tingling at the base of her spine. Something was about to happen. She held her breath and waited.

"Lani, it's over." Eli spoke slowly and deliberately. She snatched her hand from his face and placed it on her chest to make sure she kept breathing. Her worst fear was being realized. Now she couldn't catch her breath at all as it flew in and out of her lungs.

"It's over," Eli repeated. " I'm walking out of that door right now and I'm not coming back."

Lani turned away from him, "Why...why are you here then? Why did you come here tonight? I was fine. I was fine!" she yelled over her shoulder more to herself than to him. She was fine. She had her journal, her ice cream, her plans to get a cat. She began making her way from the kitchen to the living room, a sudden burst of hot tears blinding her. She knew the final goodbye was going to be painful. But Eli was always so artful in the things he said to her. She never imagined he'd be so blunt.

"Lani, you don't trust me." Eli continued still using that same deliberately overly enunciated cadence.

"I trust you." Lani held on to the back of a chair unable to stand on her own as her legs felt like they could no longer support her.

"Not with your heart." Eli now stood behind her.

"What does that even mean?" Lani turned to face him, her body now trembled as a bevy of emotions collided inside of her.

"I know you're afraid..."

"I'm not afraid," Lani cut him off. "I'm royally pissed if you really must know how I'm feeling at this moment." She wiped away tears only for more to replace them. "I was upstairs, in bed with my ice cream and I was fine without you!"

"Lani, I know you or I should say we have been through alot. And I know we're still healing. I can help if you would let me."

"I thought that was what we were doing these last few days."

"Lani, these last few days have meant the world to me. But we're down to the wire. I have to know. Do you love me?"

"Did you just say 'down to the wire', like there is some kind of deadline?"

"There is. I leave in two weeks. I won't go if you don't want me to."

"Oh my God." Lani covered her mouth with her hands. "Of course I don't want you to go. What the hell, Eli. You know that."

Eli grabbed her shoulders, his cool demeanor now gone, "then tell me you want me to stay. Tell me you love me. I'm not staying in Salem just to play house. I'm only staying if we have something solid. Not just sex. I'm talking mind, body and soul."

"So what you're saying is you want me to decide whether or not you leave."

"Precisely. It's one hundred percent up to you. And it's either now or never."

"This sounds like you're giving me an ultimatum."

"It doesn't sound like one, it is an ultimatum." He let her go, walked over to a chair and sat down.

Lani followed "You can't give me an ultimatum and make me responsible for deciding your entire future. That's not fair. If it all goes to hell, then it will all be my fault."

Eli looked up at her but remained silent.

Lani went to the couch and plopped down, glaring at him.


	11. Chapter 11

Eli didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he awoke with a start. He was still sitting in Lani's living room but she was not there. A single light was left on. Eli stood, stretched his back and looked around the empty room with all of Lani's belongings. The throw pillows, the afghan blanket. It felt strange to be there without her. In the days he'd stayed, wherever he was Lani was there too right beside him, smiling, laughing, hugging him, kissing him saying that she missed him if he left the room for less than five minutes. And all of this out of nowhere. Just a month ago, Lani was saying she couldn't return his feelings now all of this at once when he had a new job out of town that was a mere days away.

Maybe he was being unfair and under normal circumstances, he would give her all of the time in the world. That was his plan until she rejected him last month. His next move was to get as far away from Salem as he could. Now everything was different and it was a complete mess. Eli closed his eyes and sighed. In any case he had his answer. Lani flat refused to verbally reassure him after only five days. She said she needed more time, a luxury he didn't have at the moment. The apartment was so quiet Eli wondered if Lani was at home or if she had left. He wanted to go to her room to check. Only sheer willpower kept him from following that instinct. He grabbed his jacket and looked around one last time at the little world they had inhabited together for a few days. He focused on the details. The color of the walls. The empty place where a vase used to be. Lani kicked it over by accident during a spirited round of foreplay-one of many. He'd send her a new vase from Baltimore. No matter how long he lived he knew the time spent with Lani would remain in his heart forever. There was a such a sense of hope and possibilities, for awhile anyway.

He went to the front door and reached for the knob.

"Eli...Wait..."

Eli closed his eyes and shook his head at the sound of Lani's voice. This was getting worse and worse and worse. He turned to her and realized his mistake right away. Lani stood at the foot of the stairs with a tragic expression on her beautiful face. She was wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt, her hair was in messy waves cascading like a waterfall over her shoulders. There was nothing intentionally seductive about her right then, yet she was as captivating as he'd ever seen her. Silence stretched between them until Lani finally spoke. Her voice calm and resolute.

"I know we're at an impasse, but I was wondering," she fiddled with the hem of her t-shirt, then clasped her hands together, "if you would go to Marlena's with me tomorrow. Maybe an impartial professional can help us."

"If that is what you need, I'll do it." Eli said without hesitation. "But a shrink isn't going to change my mind, Lani. Either we commit to building something real or I'm gone."

"You are so fixated on hearing exactly what you want to hear that you are not comprehending anything else I say. Eli, I do not want you to go. You know this, but that is not good enough for you." Lani took a deep breath and held up her hands. "Anyway, I don't want to get into it again tonight. We just keep going around in circles. If we must argue let's do it in Marlena's office tomorrow."

"Yeah, that sounds like it's going to be a whole lot of fun." Eli frowned.

"It'll be fine," Lani smiled warmly at him.

"The things I do for you Lani Price. Handcuffs and now a shrink. I'd rather have a root canal than go see a shrink."

"You'll be okay. We will be okay."

"A root canal without anesthesia."

Lani laughed, "It's not going to be that bad. We'll be doing it together. And as we found out these last few days," she threw hair over her shoulder and fixed him with a pointed look, "anything we do together is nothing short of amazing."

Eli was not sure how it happened-since when they first started to talk, Lani was near the stairs and he was at the door-but somehow during their brief conversation, they'd drifted together. Everything had this dreamlike quality and he had a nagging suspicion none of it was real. She was now within an arm's reach. He took her hands in his even though he knew with them one touch was too much. She was absolutely irresistible, but Eli had to admit, he didn't put all that much effort into resisting. He attributed his lack of self control to months of suppressed emotions, now unleashed and intensified. Taking inventory of his feelings, he was somehow soothed by the exquisite defenseless he felt just then as he pulled Lani close and placed his lips on hers. He could not help himself as he surrendered to her luxurious softness. Lani responded sighing softly and moving her lips against his. He broke the kiss to look into her eyes. His every need could be satisfied by this one woman. If only.

"I should not be kissing you right now," he leaned in to kiss her again before drawing back. "Everything is way too fucked up. This only makes matters worse. What we have been doing these last few days without making sure we were both on the same page might end up being very destructive"

"Very, very destructive," Lani agreed and moved in to deliver several brief kisses all around his mouth. "But that's okay because we're getting help tomorrow."

"So let's continue to destroy everything tonight."

Lani laughed pressing her face into the crook of his neck before looking up at him again. "How is it that I can laugh with you, be completely turned on by you and yet be absolutely furious with you all at the same time? You gave me an ultimatum and I'm still pissed about that."

"So these are still angry kisses."

"Very, very angry kisses."

"You know you have me wondering."

"Wondering what?"

"If I do this, would you still be mad at me." He turned her so her back was too him. He moved her hair aside and whispered in her ear describing in minute detail what sensually erotic action he could take to assuage her vexation. Lani gasped and shivered. Eli was still fascinated by what Lani revealed about herself whenever they were together. One thing he'd discovered over the last five days is he always got quite a reaction when he told her what he wanted to do to her.

"You're wet right now aren't you?" He asked rhetorically since he usually did most of the talking when they made love. Lani talked up to a point, especially if they started out by playing one of her games, but when things got seriously heated, she became less verbal instead expressing herself by sighing and moaning. On several occasions she screamed his name, otherwise she didn't say much. He slid his hand under her t-shirt, beneath the elastic of her leggings and panties until his fingers made contact with the slick folds of her womanhood. He first began with an unhurried exploration of her creamy depths before moving higher, zeroing in on the hard erect little bud, massaging slowly and carefully at first and then mercilessly as Lani began to rotate her hips in a circular motion grinding alternately forward into his hand and behind her against his growing erection. He ran his tongue along her neck. When he believed she was close to orgasm, he told her that after she came on his fingers, he was going to bend her over and make her come even harder on his hungry tongue. He planned to continue in the same vein, but suddenly changed his mind and decided to take a different path.

"Lani, do you love me? Tell me you love me."

"Yes...Yes, I love you Eli," Lani exclaimed as she shuddered and quaked through a powerful release.

Eli was aware that Lady Officer would point out to him that if a confession extracted while under duress was inadmissible, so was one obtained during orgasm. Still he could not describe what hearing those words coming from her mouth did to him. Before these five days they spent together, he had wanted her. Now his desire had quadrupled, solidified and could now be described as boundless, infinite, eternal. "I love you too," he said holding her as her breathing slowed and returned to normal. "You have no idea how much I love you, Lani. No idea."

Lani turned to face him. He anticipated her wrath for the forced confession, but instead she locked her lips on his and kissed him deeply and passionately.

Later that night, while Eli slept beside her Lani wrote furiously in her journal. It was like another weight had been lifted, one that she wasn't even aware that she had been carrying. "I can't believe it, I said it! I said it!" she wrote. After months and months of being in such denial. A denial so complete, she was not aware of the feelings she'd been harboring for Eli, long before even that first night they spent together last year. Then she wrote "I'm in love. I'm in love. I'm in love" in a single column down one page and onto the next.


	12. Chapter 12

Hattie Adams looked in the mirror checking her teeth to make sure there was no evidence of the cheese doodles she had for breakfast. The hardest part of playing Marlena was trying to pretend she didn't eat junk food, listen to good music or know how to dance or have any fun actually. The easiest part were the therapy sessions. As soon as she got back to Statesville, she was going to sign up for an online psychology class. She would train as a counselor just to make it official, but everything she needed to know to help anybody, she learned from 20 years of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Until Marlena's return, John and Roman told her to reschedule or refer all clients, which she had been doing. But this morning Valerie contacted her and asked if she could possibly fit Lani and Eli in for a morning appointment as a favor to her. Well, what John and Roman didn't know wouldn't hurt them or anyone else. So she told Valerie to have them come in early for an assessment then she would see them after. Hattie fluffed her hair and straightened the collar of her blouse. That was another thing she didn't like about playing Marlena her straight jacket clothes. What was wrong with wearing jeans and sneaks to work?

At 10 am there was a knock at the door. Of course two cops would be right on time. Hattie quickly hid all of the gossip magazines she had been reading in a drawer and yelled out for them to "Come on in!"

The door opened and Lani appeared first as gorgeous as ever. Hattie wondered why she chose law enforcement instead of modeling, maybe it was so she could work with hunks like Eli who entered right behind her. Hattie observed their body language. Eli place a hand momentarily on the small of Lani's back right before they sat down. And as he took his seat, Hattie noticed Eli move his chair closer to Lani's. Lani gave him a little smile before they both turned their attention to her. Hattie cleared her throat and mentally channeled Judge Judy and Dr. Phil simultaneously.

"Good morning to you both. Thank you for coming in early for the assessment with Dr. Brown. Do you have the screening information?"

"Thank you for seeing us at the last minute," Eli said. Lani handed him a folder and he stood to place it on the desk. Hattie opened the folder and looked over their initial mental health screenings, which had been conducted by a highly competent medical intern. Roman and John thought she was stupid, but when she was playing Marlena before and no one was aware, she knew enough to have a medical professional check for any trauma before she talked to anybody. She managed Marlena's practice for weeks with no complaints. If she encountered a serious nutcase, she would immediately refer-or have Dr. Brown refer them. Eli and Lani had recently lost a baby so she had them screened for everything under the sun. Despite their loss, neither met the criteria for depression, substance abuse, PTSD, suicide ideation or any other loony bin level mental health issue. And how many times had she comforted someone in an AA meeting after they lost mothers, fathers, sisters, children. Further losing a loved one while incarcerated hit even harder since you could not go to the funeral or grieve with the rest of the family.

Confident that she could handle anything that Eli and Lani could possibly throw at her, Hattie said. "I need you both to tell me why you are here. Eli, you go first."

Eli took a breath. "First I gotta tell you that I don't really like telling my business to strangers, but my mom got us this appointment and I promised Lani that I would try. So I'm just going to put it out there. We're here because we have some serious decisions to make, but instead of talking about them, we always end up having sex."

Hattie stared at Eli for a second. She hadn't been expecting that one at all and could not find a thing to say. Then Lani chimed in.

"Eli thinks that we have been having too much sex. I don't agree. Also I think it's way, way too soon to have these," she quoted her fingers "serious discussions."

"So," Hattie said gathering her wits. "Exactly how much sex are we talking about here?"

"Alot," Eli responded.

"Can you quantify the amount?" Hattie was proud of how scholarly she sounded. She adjusted her reading glasses and picked up a pencil as if she were going to write the answer down.

"Well,it's only been a few days in total since we reconnected. I'd say once or twice a day, give or take." Lani looked at Eli. "Right?"

"Thursday was more than twice," Eli shook his head.

"Oh yeah Thursday, that was a great day," Lani smiled at the memory then grew serious. "Is there something wrong with that, Dr. Evans, to have sex multiple times in one day. Is it normal?"

"Who knows if it's normal, but it definitely sounds delightful." Hattie's mind drifted to Roman. What would it be like to be in flagrante with him multiple times a day? He was so strong and good looking. He was also the jerk who was more than happy to use her whenever it was convenient to help his friend John and their precious Marlena and then send her back down the river to Statesville. Hattie brooded for a few more seconds until she realized Eli and Lani were staring at her. She'd said something that was very unlike Marlena and the two cops sitting in front of her noticed.

Hattie cleared her throat and regrouped. "Lani, tell me about these decisions Eli wants to talk about, but you keep dodging."

Lani took a deep breath and her lower lip trembled slightly. "Eli has accepted an assignment out of town and leaves in two weeks. It's this once in a lifetime opportunity that will really advance his career. He says he won't go if I tell him to stay. I don't think that's fair. He should make his own decision regardless of me. I don't want that responsibility."

"Mmmmhmmm," Hattie mulled this over. She looked at them both as they exchanged glances. She practically had to bite her tongue to keep from blurting out the obvious. There was no way, no how that Eli was going anywhere. Or if he did, he'd be back quicker than you can say Jack Robinson. "So why don't you both tell me how all of this began." Hattie probed, trying to get them to open up and talk more, which is why they were here and paying Marlena the big bucks. And origin stories were a big part of AA meetings. It helped to talk about when the problems began all the way to hitting rock bottom and then the journey back to recovery.

Lani and Eli both spoke at the same time.

"We were on our way to Greece…." Lani said.

"Last Christmas Eve…" Eli began.

They both stopped and looked at each other.

"Greece?" Eli frowned a bit. "Two summers ago?"

"Yes, we were on the plane and you handed me a water bottle. You touched my hand and I kinda knew then."

Eli chuckled "I have no recollection of that whatsoever. I touched you?"

"Not like that," Lani rolled her eyes playfully. "It was just an accidental thing, but I felt something strange and I'll admit thrilling. Like something major was on the verge of happening. It was pretty similar to that day in my office when we were fighting about Sheila. Only I didn't kiss you when we were on the plane."

"If you did, let's just say I wouldn't have been opposed to it." One side of Eli's mouth lifted in a mischievous grin.

"So," Hattie cut in. She was tempted to just let them talk since they certainly were on a roll, but she had to appear to be providing therapy. And anybody who has seen a therapy session on TV knows that it's nothing more than asking questions. "Eli, all of this apparently didn't start for you on the plane to Greece. Where is the beginning as you see it?"

"It's hard to say exactly when. I mean I was attracted to Lani from the second we met. She's beautiful, but she was with JJ. And then I had this on again off again relationship with Gabi, so I never pursued Lani until Christmas Eve last year."

"And what changed," Hattie looked over her reading glasses at Eli.

"There was this huge misunderstanding…" Lani started to explained.

Hattie waved a hand in Lani's direction silencing her. "Ah ah ah...let Eli talk this is his turn, his story. What changed on Christmas Eve."

"Everything changed. Lani came to me. It was under not so great circumstances. Still it meant so much to me just to be with her. The next morning Lani was upset so I apologized, but I really was not sorry. Others got hurt. Still deep down inside I was glad that we were together even if it was just that one time."

"Hmmm," Hattie took off her reading glasses and thought for a moment. To really give good advice she had to let the Marlena persona go for a few minutes. "Sounds like to me, and I'm just spitballing here, but Eli, I think you've romanticized that one night to the point that it's hard for you to fully accept and believe in the real thing when it's staring you right in the face. You don't need Lani to make any decisions for you. You know exactly what you want to do as we speak. The job might be a once in a lifetime opportunity but so is what you have right here with Lani. And you know this."

"As for you Lani, if Eli says it's too much sex then damn it it's too much sex no matter what you or I deem as normal. So my homework assignment for both of you is absolutely no sex for the next two weeks." Hattie paused and observed her stunned clients. They never expected to find tough love in Marlena's office. Hattie stood and fixed her jacket "And for the record Eli in five years don't come crying to Marle...I mean me when you and Lani have a toddler, a four year old, a hectic work schedule and can't find any time at all for intimacy. If only the rest of us were lucky enough to have your problem of too much sex. You need to get woke, recognize what you have and be grateful."

Eli started to speak, but Hattie stopped him. "That's all for today. Please make appointments to come back in a week. I am going to the front desk to check my schedule. You both can use the office as long as you like to process the session. Have a nice day." Hattie gave them a brilliant smile and then she was off.


	13. Chapter 13

"Did Dr. Evans just tell me to get woke?" Eli looked at Lani who was laughing so hard her shoulders were shaking.

"She sure did," Lani reached out to rub Eli's arm. "See that wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be."

Eli covered her hand with his. "You're saying that because she didn't yell at you as much as she yelled at me."

"Oh telling you to get woke isn't yelling. She got on me about the sex stuff."

"And you deserved it." Eli laced their fingers together. "You know she made a very good point about the new job. I was 99 % sure the first night I stayed over at your place that I was not going to take it."

"Does that mean you're staying? No more ultimatums?"

Eli scoffed, "I know you're hopelessly and desperately in love with me. I just wanted to hear you say it." He gave Lani a sideways glance, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Seriously, you're going to start acting out five minutes after therapy? Well, I have one thing to say to you." Lani stood and went to Marlena's desk retrieving a pen and sticky notes. She went back to her seat and scribbled on the top note, peeled it off and handed to Eli. He looked at it and smiled. He took the pen from Lani, wrote something on the paper and gave it back to her.

Lani looked at the note and screwed up her face. "Okay, you're handwriting is completely illegible so you are going to have to tell me what this says."

Eli stood and pulled Lani to her feet and into his arms. "Your note said 'I love you' and I wrote back, 'I love you too.'" He leaned in to kiss her, but Lani stopped him covering his mouth with her hand.

"Remember no sex for two weeks." Lani admonished.

"It was just a kiss."

"Since when has it been just a kiss with us?"

"You got a point. Two weeks, huh?"

"You were the one complaining. A wise man once said to me 'be careful what you wish for.'"

"Actually," Eli picked up Lani's jacket and helped her into it. "This is a good thing. We can go out and get things done, like replace the vase you broke last week."

"Ahhh...last Thursday. The best day of my life."

"If this two weeks of abstinence is going to work, we have to have some ground rules, the first is, no reminiscing about last Thursday. And no more running around naked." He walked to the door and opened it allowing Lani to exit first.

"I have never in my life ran around naked." Lani looped her arm Eli's as they started down the hall.

"Well, pranced around naked."

"I never pranced either."

"Well, half naked, three quarters naked. No more of that."

"Shall I go find some nightgowns from the 1800s that go down to my ankles?"

"That's not a bad idea. We'll pick up some when we get the vase."

"Nooo, I am not wearing granny nightgowns."

"Oh yes you will. I played your games. It's granny gowns for you for the next two weeks."

"Speaking of games, I just thought of a new one when we were writing our love notes. The game is Good Professor Bad Graduate Writing Student. The bad student hands in an illegible writing assignment…"

"Impossible with computers," Eli interrupted.

"That's how bad this student is, he hands in a sloppy handwritten paper for a graduate level course."

"He? Why can't the bad student be a she?"

"Because you're the one with the terrible handwriting."

"But I'd make a better professor. I can answer more questions on Jeopardy than you can."

"Just for that," Lani laughed, "I'm taking charge of the remote at 7 tonight and you're cooking since I cooked last time."

"It would be my pleasure. From now on it's 50-50 with everything."

They continued to walk down the hall planning how they would spend the next sexless two weeks until they reached the front desk where Marlena stood with Roman Brady.


	14. Chapter 14

After Hattie left Eli and Lani in Marlena's office she went to the front desk to see if anyone had called to make an appointment for Marlena. The medical assistants had stepped away and the waiting area was empty so she took the opportunity to start writing her case notes.

In the session with Eli and Lani she had accomplished all of her goals. She'd encouraged them to talk, she threw in her own two cents and gave them a homework assignment. She wrote this all down so that Marlena would know exactly what happened with her clients. She also noted that Eli and Lani did not talk about the loss of their child and that the issue might be approached later when they were ready. Hattie was so engrossed in writing that she didn't hear Roman approach until he spoke.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing Hattie?"

Hattie jumped at the sound of his voice and the pen flew out of her hand. "Do not sneak up on me like that!" After being incarcerated with all women, male voices tended to catch her by surprise-especially this male voice. Roman Brady, the man she loved more than anybody. And also the man who rejected and hurt her more than anyone else as well.

Roman bent down to pick up the pen and handed it back to her. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me," Hattie said hastily and placed the pen behind her ear. "What do you want Roman. I know this isn't a social call since you can't stand me because I'm not you and John's precious Marlena. I just play her when it's convenient."

"Would you keep your voice down." Roman looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. Some medical personnel and patients were further down the corridor on either side, but no one seemed the least bit interested in their conversation. "And what are you even doing here anyway. John and I told you to keep a low profile and reschedule all of Marlena's appointments until she returned. I came by earlier and they told me you were in session. Who was the unlucky patient? Whose life did you just screw with?

Hattie bit back the urge to pick up the stapler on the desk and clock him over the head with it. She squeezed her fists tightly until the urge subsided. She was almost finished her time at Stateville, the last thing she needed was an additional assault charge. "For your information. I was doing a favor for Valerie."

"Val? Are you nuts? She's a doctor. She probably saw right through you within five minutes. We're going to have to fix this."

"Dr. Grant wasn't the patient, she asked me to speak to Eli and Lani."

"Oh my God. That's even worse," Roman threw his hands into the air. "Don't you know they just lost a child. They need to speak to a competent medical professional. Not you."

Hattie took a deep breath and eyed the stapler again. Some crimes were worth it. But of course she could never hurt Roman. She loved him too much. Still she wasn't going to allow him to constantly insult her when she was doing him and John a huge favor. "Not that it's any of your damn business, but Dr. Brown, a very competent medical professional, assessed them before they talked to me. There was no indication of trauma, PTSD, or any mental health issues for either of them. Further, they did not seek Marlena's help to talk about the baby. And even further more. I suggest you take a different tone when you speak to me. If not I'll walk right out of that door, to the Salem PD, turn myself in and let them all know about this little scheme that you and John forced me into."

"Forced?" Roman scoffed. "You jumped at the chance to play Marlena again so you could take a vacation from Statesville."

"Do you really think they'll care? I wasn't the want who yanked all of the strings to get me released. I'm not the one who coordinated a trail of falsified documents."

"Yeah, you're just the one who pretended to be a doctor with Eli and Lani. I just pray that Marlena can fix the mess you've created."

"Oh, you mean that mess," Hattie pointed down the hall. Roman turned to see Eli and Lani walking together very slowly. Lani held onto Eli's arm and the two were engaged in what looked like playful banter. Lani waved a finger in Eli's face. Eli grabbed it and pretended to bite it before he kissed her hand, then tweaked her nose. Lani lifted Eli's arm draping it over her shoulders and she wrapped her arms around his waist. Eli bent to whisper something in her ear. Lani laughed and swatted his midsection. "Stop it," Hattie heard Lani say. "You have two weeks to go." They were so into each other they had no idea they were being watched.

Finally when they were a few feet from the front desk, Eli noticed Hattie and Roman. With Lani still attached to him like another appendage, Eli managed to shake Roman's hand. Lani greeted them, but did not loosen her grip on her man.

"Dr. Evans," Eli said, "We can't thank you enough for fitting us in last minute. Everything is so much clearer now."

Hattie waved off his thanks. "It was no problem at all. Just make sure you schedule another appointment for next week."

"We'll be there," Lani said then smiled at Eli who was smiling back. They said goodbye and went to the elevators.

Hattie returned her attention to Roman who stood glaring at her in chagrined silence. "Now just what were you saying about the mess I made? I bet you wish you could be in such a mess." With that she snapped her fingers once in Roman's face, then snapped two times in the air before she turned on her heel and proceeded to walk down the hall back to Marlena's office. She turned to see if Roman was watching her walk away. He was so she made sure she put more sway into her hips than was necessary. When she turned the corner, Hattie did her happy dance. She'd helped Lani and Eli. And she finally put that self-righteous Roman in his place. It was about damn time.


	15. Chapter 15

Eli and Lani go back to the station. Sheila is there surrounded by a few officers and members of the administrative staff. She is holding a kitten who reminds Eli of the cat that kept trying to climb up his leg at the Newtons and everyone is oohh and ahhing over the animal.

"You two finally showed up," Sheila said. "This is my first day, I'm babysitting for you and Abe is not too happy about it."

"Is that Sebastian," Lani exclaimed and and took the kitten from Sheila.

"Apparently so," Sheila gave Eli a piece of paper. "Somebody left him out front in a box about an hour ago with this note."

"To Detectives Lani Price and Eli Grant, " Eli read. "We know you will give Sebastian a good home. Godspeed. Signed D.E.C."

"Oh I was so worried about Sebastian and what was going to happen to him. Eli can we keep him? I swear I'll take care of him and you'll never know he's around."

"I doubt that," Eli said. "We'll take care of him together. Remember what I said 50-50 with everything."

Sebastian meowed and pawed the air in Eli's direction.

"He seems to want you," Lani held Sebastian out to Eli.

Eli sighed and took the kitten from Lani. He scratched Sebastian behind the ears. "I guess he's not so bad for a cat." Sebastian purred contentedly and settled into Eli's arms. A collective "awwww" went up around the room.

Abe came out of his office just then. "Lani and Eli I'm assuming that your new pet needs a litter box, a veterinarian, a flea collar and a whole host of things. So why don't the two of you take care of all that so my new assistant and everybody else in the department might actually get some work done. If that is even possible." He placed a folder on Sheila's desk and turned away to make a phone call. Sheila made a face at Abe's back and everyone laughed.

"Sheila, behave," Lani and Eli said at the exact same time though they were laughing too.

"I know, I know. I'll behave. And you guys enjoy this new little addition to your family."

"We most certainly will." Lani said taking the kitten from Eli. Sebastian protests reaching for Eli again. "Well, excuse me little guy." Lani laughs and hands the kitten back to Eli. "Since he likes you better, I guess we have to get one for me. No let's get a puppy. They can grow up together."

"A cat and a dog? What's next a parakeet?"

"Yeah why not?"

"I can think of about a hundred reasons why not."

The two continue to argue goodnaturedly as they leave the station and step into the bright sunshine unaware that several people including Sheila and Abe are watching them from the window. Sheila says to Abe who is standing beside her "It goes to show true love always wins in the end."

Abe looks at her and fixes his tie. "I wouldn't have pegged you for the romantic type. I'm happy for Eli and my daughter, but not all love is meant to be."

"You're just saying that because Dr. Grant is leaving you. Not that anyone can blame her" Sheila said matter-of-factly as she starts to walk back to her desk. "Maybe one day you'll get lucky and find a woman who won't run away."

"You should have put eavesdropping on your list of skills on your resume. You seem to be quite good at it."

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I came in early to tell you I was here. You and Dr. Grant were talking with the door wide open. I couldn't help but hear her tell you that she was seeking greener pastures. Better luck next time."

"Luck has nothing to do with it. Now if you don't mind, stay out of my love life and get back to work."

"I'm happy to do both," Sheila sits down at her desk and successfully resists the urge to make fun of Abe as he walked away. She would put forth the effort to treat him better. He was taking a chance by hiring her. The least she could do was be nice.

The end


End file.
